The Health In Justice Action Lab of the Northeastern University School of Law has created a toolkit for attorneys defending death by distribution of drugs. This toolkit will be useful to defenders in handling charges of this sort in NC, both for the old murder by distribution and the new death by distribution.
Reports and Publications
OSAC’s Friction Ridge Subcommittee Develops Friction Ridge Process Map
The Organization of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC) for Forensic Science’s Friction Ridge Subcommittee has developed a friction ridge examination process map that describes the conventional process for latent print examination. The process map identifies key decision points in the fingerprint examination process, enables laboratory managers to better understand how their protocols compare with those of other laboratories, …
OSAC’s Friction Ridge Subcommittee Develops Friction Ridge Process MapRead More
Are There Really Flaws in Cell Phone Location Evidence?
Blog post by Larry Daniel, Spencer McInvaille, and Eric Grabski addressing the potential for flaws in cell phone location evidence when mapping software is used and other issues with cell tower evidence.
Are There Really Flaws in Cell Phone Location Evidence?Read More
No Longer the Gold Standard: Probabilistic Genotyping is Changing the Nature of DNA Evidence in Criminal Trials
American Academy of Forensic Sciences, Journal of Forensic Sciences, Vol. 45-56 (2000-2011).
Drug Testing in a Drug Court Environment: Common Issues to Address
Department of Justice article regarding issues raised by drug court programs regarding drug testing.
Drug Testing in a Drug Court Environment: Common Issues to AddressRead More
NHTSA Training Manuals
The Washington State Patrol has posted the following manuals online: DWI Detection and Standardized Field Sobriety Testing, DRE, and Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (ARIDE). These manuals are available for download.
National District Attorney Association Resources
This National District Attorney Association has these and other guides for prosecutors available on their website: Cross-Examination for Prosecutors The Drug Evaluation and Classification (DEC) Program Drug Toxicology for Prosecutors Hardcore Drunk Driving Prosecutorial Guide: A Resource Outlining Prosecutorial Challenges, Effective Strategies and Model Programs Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus—The Science and the Law: A Resource Guide …
Guide for Interpreting Toxicology Results
Available from the NC Office of the Chief Medical Examiner
Technical Working Group for Eyewitness Evidence
Procedures for Challenging Eyewitness Identification Evidence
Attorneys considering challenging eyewitness identification should consult Chapter 3 of Alyson A. Grine & Emily Coward, Raising Issues of Race in North Carolina Criminal Cases. The chapter provides detailed information on motions to suppress, voir dire of witnesses, jury voir dire, working with experts, cross-examination, and other topics.
Procedures for Challenging Eyewitness Identification EvidenceRead More
Reevaluating Lineups: Why Witnesses Make Mistakes
Innocence Project report showing that misidentification causes more wrongful convictions than any other factor. Misidentifications contributed to wrongful convictions of more than 75% of the over 230 people exonerated through post-conviction DNA testing.
Social Media Law Enforcement Guides
The Electronic Frontier Foundation received a number of guides regarding information that is maintained by various social networking sites and how to request that information. The guides are posted on their website, under the “documents” tab, scroll down to Social Media Law Enforcement Guides.
Retention Periods of Major Cellular Service Providers
The Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section of the U.S. Department of Justice gathered information about the retention periods for call details, cell tower information, text message content, pictures, and other types of data. This information has been posted online by the ACLU.
Retention Periods of Major Cellular Service ProvidersRead More
Digital Evidence Subpoena Guide
This guide contains addresses and phone/fax numbers for the legal departments/subpoena compliance centers of cellular providers and social media sites. Please be aware of 2014 Formal Ethics Opinion 7 when issuing subpoenas. John Rubin’s 2017 blog post on subpoenaing-of-state materials is available here. Email Sarah Rackley Olson if you have any corrections or updated information for the subpoena guide.